Monday, September 17, 2012

We arrived in Greece on Wednesday, and I found myself more tired than I can ever remember being in my whole life - and that was before the tiring trip!

I can't recommend EasyJet. Yes, it's very cheap. But we didn't save any money. We had a choice of flying from London, which would have meant train fare and hotel, plus meals, but would have gotten us straight to Thessaloniki, or else flying from Manchester but only as far as Athens, and finding the flight from there to Thessaloniki eating up all we had saved by flying the budget airline.

So we didn't save anything, and meanwhile the seats were hard and cramped and there was no onboard entertainment, not that we usually care for that, but I missed the map that shows you your route and where you are at the moment. We didn't get a jetway, either. So both at our departure and our arrival, we had to negotiate the stairs carrying hand luggage. (Remember those 19 books Demetrios always takes with him wherever he goes?)

Also, there are no assigned seats, so the early birds get the best choice. For the price of arriving that much earlier. We didn't know this, so by the time we boarded, we had to take whatever seats we could find, and they weren't together. A nice woman across the aisle from me said she didn't care where she sat, and was kind enough to trade seats with Demetrios, so he ended up across from me.

Fifteen minutes or so after take-off, the man sitting next to him turned red and stiff and was having convulsions. Funny thing about being a doctor on an airplane. A doctor in an emergency is accustomed to taking charge, but on an airplane, the crew is always in charge, especially in an emergency. Not that it mattered; everyone worked together.

Fortunately, the man was only having an epileptic seizure. When he had recovered enough, he confirmed that this had happened before, albeit only on an airplane. Seats were again juggled so his wife could sit between him and Demetrios for the rest of the flight. I'm glad to report that it was uneventful, and the man seemed fine.